Soros: CIS has no future :: Charter'97 :: News

At a June 3 press conference held in Kiev, billionaire-philanthropist George Soros declared the united economic space including Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia and Kazakhstan will not be effective and has no future, The Messenger reported. Soros explained that the united economic space cannot function because of differences among the political regimes of its member countries.

According to Soros it is "crucially important" for these countries to develop economic ties, but the space proposed is a poorly thought-out initiative. In reality, he said, Russia dominates all of Eurasia and pursues economic relations only to achieve political objectives.

Soros pointed to Belarus as a primary stumbling block for economic integration to flow from political integration saying, "Belarus is home to the worst dictatorial regime in Europe."

He praised the fact on the other hand that the space includes Ukraine, which after the Orange Revolution staked out a solidly pro-western orientation and began to seek membership in the European Union.

"The Orange Revolution was a remarkable political event that united Ukrainians as a nation. But this is not the end of the road. This did not bring them democracy - it only opened the way to future development," he is quoted as saying.

"Now the Ukrainian authority is faced with a difficult task - to adopt correct laws. This process is underway, but it is far from easy, because over the last 15 years traditions have been created in that country that are incompatible with democratic values," said Soros, adding that he had confidence Ukraine could follow through on this.